MIA
by Bursting-Bubbles
Summary: After Cemetery. "Roxas...? Do you remember when i told you I love you for the first time?" AU -COMPLETE-
1. Chapter 1

Roxas shifted in his hospital bed. He looked over at the TV remote, trying to remember what it was for. The doctor who had been visiting kept telling Roxas that he had been in an accident. He smiled a bit, happy that he finally remembered something.

He picked up the remote, pointing it at the television. His finger punched a button but didn't get a response. So he did it again. Then again. Finally, after nearly throwing the contraption at the wall, the television in the corner popped on. His smile got a bit wider when the screen lit up. A woman stood with a microphone in her hand on the screen. She was talking loudly over the blare of sirens. Red and blue lights flashed and highlighted her face. Her hair whipped back and fourth in the wind.

"-t this moment. We have gotten word that the victim is in extremely critical condition."

The woman turned and hailed a police officer. The raven-haired officer looked a bit harassed.

"Officer...." She read his name of the tag on his shirt, "Fair. Would you please tell us what is going on?"

The disheveled officer sighed, rubbing a hand over his spiked hair. Roxas thought he looked a bit familiar but he didn't know from where.

"At this moment? A whole lot of nothing. We're trying to get a lock down on the killer. As for the victim... He didn't look good when I got to him. Ansem cut him up pretty badly. I did see that he was stabbed in the head a couple times."

"So what are you going to do?" She pressed the microphone closer to his face, making Officer Fair back up.

"Well, if you don't mind me speaking unprofessionally... We're going to capture this mother fucker and get him off the streets."

Roxas tilted his head, not really following the conversation anymore. He was watching the Fair guy rally some other officers, yelling at them to stop milling about and to get back to work.

As Roxas picked at his blanket, head tilted and completely engrossed in his thoughts, a bright red-headed man burst into his room. Roxas barely noticed. The man skidded to a halt in front of the TV. After staring at the small box for about five minutes he pulled out a cell phone. He flipped it open, spewing what sounded like Spanish into the little receiver.

Roxas stared at the man. "What?"

The man looked at Roxas. He mouthed a sorry. Roxas shrugged, and turned the heat up on his electric blanket.

The man finished his call and slumped into the nearest chair. He ran a hand over his face then sighed, also stretching and groaning. Roxas' gazed leveled to him, finally coming out of the la-la land he had been in a moment earlier.

"What are you in here for?" The man asked, looking completely worn out.

"I got in an accident." The boy in the bed shrugged as if it was no big deal The blond settled back into his pillows. "I don't really remember."

"Why not?" The red-head asked, eyes drifting to the ceiling.

"They said I cracked my skull." Roxas turned to the TV. The reporter lady was starting to get annoying. She kept repeating the news that she had already delivered, so he shut it off.

"I'm Reno." The man said, now counting the tiles in the ceiling, tapping at the air with his finger. Roxas nodded.

"My name starts with 'R' too. R-O-X...." He drifted off. "A boy calls me Roxie, so just call me that."

"Okay, Roxie. Mind if I vent to you?" He turned his head to look at the small boy in the hospital bed. The white around the blond made him seem paler, but not a sick pale. He looked a bit angelic in the bed.

Roxas smiled, "Go ahead,"

Reno opened his mouth and started talking. He didn't stop until he fell asleep in the chair. When the room went silent, Roxas smiled and looked over to the man. He had just learned that the red-head had a brother, the one they were talking about on the news.

Roxas slipped out of his bed, dragging a blanket with him. He shuffled over to Reno. He tossed the blanket over the stressed man then tucked him in. He pulled the flip cell out of Reno's hand and shut it off. Roxas smiled and pushed a piece of red hair over the man's forehead. Reno made a face and shifted to his side.

"Goodnight..." Roxas smiled and shuffled back over to his bed. He slipped under the covers quietly.

-0-0-0-

Roxas blinked, shifting in his bed. He groaned and opened his eyes. A sliver of golden light was spread out on the wall. He furrowed his eye brows in confusion. Why was the door open? Yawning, he turned on his other side.

Two nurses crept into the room. They wheeled a bed between them; holding the prone form of a boy about Roxas' age. His head was bandaged. A third nurse, that Roxas just noticed, was pushing a beeping machine along beside the bed.

"I heard he was stabbed 145 times..." The male one said, his voice low.

"The kid's lucky to be alive..." A nurse said as she smoothed the patient's sheets.

Roxas blinked, then felt sleep tug on him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Roxas opened his eyes, finding himself underwater. The light shifted on the ground and in the air. He could see the water tossing and turning on the surface above him. After a few moments he realized he was dreaming.

He got up slowly, looking around. He paused and shyly stepped forward. The blond started to walk faster, knowing he needed to get somewhere. Soon he started to run, going as fast as he could.

_What the hell am I doing? _Roxas slowed, his brain occupied with...

"Roxas." The body from which the voice came from wrapped around the boy from behind, making him stop abruptly. He was pulled into an intensely warm hug. Finally Roxas knew. He was running to someone, wanting to get to them.

The blond relaxed, reaching to trail a hand down the face of his companion. Warm hands splayed across his chest. Roxas wrapped his arm awkwardly around the person's neck, since he was behind the blond.

"Do you remember?" It asked, lips brushing against the back of his ear. Roxas tilted his head, trying to look back at the man behind him. Lips trailed down his neck and the hands moved to hold his waist.

"Remember what?" Roxas asked. He smiled and relaxed against the body behind him.

A hood fell into the blond's vision. He couldn't see inside, but he knew someone was there. "When I told you I love you for the first time?"

-0-0-0-

Roxas woke to sunlight falling through his window. The white room seemed a little bit brighter, making the blond squeeze his eyes shut. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face then through his hair. The warmth around his waist already sorely missed. He shivered a bit. After slipping his feet to the floor he stretched.

The curtain dividing the two beds in his room was pulled around so the new guy could have a bit of privacy. Either that or the nurses from last night didn't want Roxas to see the extensive injuries. Roxas could see a shadow behind it, quite still on the bed. He got up, hesitating before sliding the curtain back.

A red-head laid on the bed, head tilted slightly to the left. An oxygen mask fogged every so often, letting Roxas know that his room buddy was still breathing. His arms, head, and part of his chest were bandaged.

His body was stiff, even in sleep. I looked as if he was still in pain. Roxas walked over slowly. He eyed the boy.

The red-head looked about Roxas' age, maybe a bit older. Two ashy diamonds graced his cheeks, just under his eyes. Fire truck red hair fell across his forehead. Roxas reached forward and brushed the hair away. The blond smiled down at his new companion. He stroked a hinger over the tightly wound bandages.

The boy shifted, arching his back a bit. Roxas immediately pulled his hand back and started to move away. He stopped near the curtain. The boy woke up abruptly with a small noise in the back of his throat. Then he turned to look at Roxas.

Even with the apparent confusion swimming within, his eyes were shocking. Roxas sucked in a breath as he stared into poison green. Then they were hidden for a moment as the boy squeezed his eyes shut and twisted a bit in pain.

"W-where...?" He asked, voice cracking with disuse, after he settled down.

"Hospital," Roxas answered, moving forward again.

The boy started to sit up, tugging at the IVs in his arm. Roxas placed a hand on his chest and pushed him down. Roxas sat on the side of his bed, smoothing the sheets for something to do. Red-head, as Roxas dubbed him for the moment, pulled the oxygen mask away from his face, but Roxas stopped him with a look.

"What's your name?" The blond asked.

"Uh... Axel." Axel smiled, almost laughing. "I almost said Reno..."

"You know Reno? He ran into the room last night, freaking out about something. He was gone when I woke up." Roxas remembered, turning to face Axel.

"Probably kicked his lazy ass out..." Axel smiled, and then winced. Roxas felt a bit sorry for him. "He's my brother."

"What happened?" The blond asked softly, running a finger over the bandages on Axel's arm. The red-head watched as Roxas did that.

Axel made a face. "I don't really remember... It hurt?" The bed-ridden boy smiled sheepishly. Roxas smiled, amused, making Axel smile a little wider. "Like a bitch."

Roxas laughed, as Axel laid there with a smirk. The red head slips a finger under Roxas' admittance band. "What happened to you?"

"Cracked my skull. They need to do more tests before they can let me go home." Roxas recited what the nurses had been telling him for three days straight. Axel detected a hint of impatience in the blond's voice. He smiled.

"You'll get out soon. I'm not so sure about me..." He yawns, fingers still under Roxas' bracelet. The red-head soon drifted off, still holding Roxas' wrist.

After a moment Roxas smiled, shifting so he was holding Axel's hand.

"Sleep well, Axel."


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud Strife walked down the hall, his clipboard in hand. He wanted to go to the cafeteria or maybe the Subway up the street before he had to go check on the new guy. Lunch was a rare gift in the ICU, and this nurse planned to take full advantage of it.

He took a sharp turn to the left, avoiding the reporters and the secretary. Then he stopped, threw his hands in the air and groaned. He went the wrong way.

Might as well check on the new guy.

Cloud walked slowly down the hall, checking his clipboard to what room his new patient was in. It was 813, the one with the stabbing victim. Once he got closer, the spiky haired blond noticed a man sitting outside of room 813. The blond sighed softly.

"This room is off limits to anyone but the family sir." Cloud still sounded polite but it also sounded like, "Get off your ass and leave the poor kid alone."

The man looked up, slightly dazed. "What?"

Cloud sighed again, "I said, Mr..." He looked at the name tag on the guy's suit, "Fair, that you're going to have to leave."

Fair waved his hand. "I can't do that." He yawned slightly. Cloud made up in his mind that he definitely had woken the man up.

The nurse steamed. "And why not?"

"The Sergeant wants me to make sure the killer doesn't come back. We don't want him sneaking in here and killing both of them, now do we?" He smirked, sliding back in his plastic chair.

Cloud nearly snapped his board in half. "FINE," he growled.

"Be that way."

"Hey what's your name?" The raven-haired man asked, starting to stand. He got to his feet and Cloud rolled his eyes. Not only was the man thin, but he looked like a body builder. Come on, the dude was fit! And everyone knows that nurses don't exactly eat the right stuff.

"Look at the tag, you retard. It's bright yellow for a reason."

The man bent a bit, smiling as he looked at the ticked off nurse. "Cloud, huh? Cute, it fits."

Cloud nearly roared, "CUTE?! I'll show you- Oh, hello..."

The officer turned, looking to the closed door behind him. Cloud mimed strangling the idiot from behind. Fair turned back to the nurse, a small scowl on his face. "Wow, nice one." he said sarcastically.

Just as sarcastically, the small blond nurse answered, "I really thought the door opened." Then he brushed past the taller man and slipped through the door.

"You know," The officer fallowed, making Cloud roll his eyes. "I bet you twenty dollars no one has the same name as you."

"I bet you someone does." Cloud slapped down his clipboard, making one of the boys in the room jump violently.

The even smaller blond turned, wide eyed and holding his heart, to the nurse.

"Be quiet!" He hissed, pointing to the red-head on the bed. "He just fell back asleep."

Fair smiled, looking at their hands. "Comforting the new guy?" He slid his hands in his pockets as Cloud went to work. The nurse fiddled with machines and jotted stuff down on his clipboard.

"I was, until he fell asleep." Roxas answered. He looked quite annoyed.

"They why are you holding his hand?"

"Why are you an idiot?" Cloud and Roxas asked at the same time. They looked at each other, smiling. Fair thought it was a pretty picture indeed to see Cloud smile.

"Hey," The smaller blond said, pointing to the taller blond's badge, "You have the same name as my dad."

"HA!" Cloud yelled, making not only Fair, but Axel make a face. "You owe me a twenty!"

Roxas looked from Cloud to Fair. "Are you two friends? And... I saw you on the news last night?" He pointed to the raven-haired man. "Fair, right?"

Fair smiled, "Just call me Zack."

Roxas smiled, "Alright, Zack. I'm Roxas," Then he motioned to the boy on the bed. "And this is Axel."

"You know his name already?" Zack asked, tilting his head a bit and scratching his head.

"Yeah," Roxas smiled. "He woke up around the same time I did."

There was a loud squeal as Cloud turned sharply to the small blond. "REALLY?!"

"Were those your shoes?" Zack asked, only to be ignored.

"Well duh, I wouldn't be holding his hand if he didn't..." Roxas shrugged, "He was pretty scared. I think I calmed him down a bit."

Cloud looked at Roxas, jaw suavely flapping in the breeze."And it didn't go off?!?!" He kicked, something on the floor, and then jerked back. "Oww....."

Roxas laughed, smiling brightly. "You remind me of Sora! He's such an idiot!"

Cloud scowled; Zack laughed along with Roxas as the spiky haired nurse glared daggers.

Cloud motioned for Zack to join him. Roxas backed away a bit, still holding the red-head's hand. Zack lifted Axel into a somewhat sitting position so Cloud could wrap fresh bandages around his arms. Zack started to lay Axel back down onto the bed. There was a gasp and Axel's fist smashed into the side of the officer's face. After a couple moments of confusion and a few shouts of "¡Consiga de mí!" Everyone was relatively back where they had started. Cloud leaned over a slightly confused Axel, pen-light in hand. He clicked the light on in Axel's eyes, watching his pupils shrink.

"Pain? Confusion? Bad taste in your mouth?" Cloud fired off questions like they were routine. Roxas was willing to bet they were.

"Yeah, a bit, no." Axel answered.

"Good." Cloud slipped his light in his pocket. "Now I'm going to lunch." Cloud grabbed Zack, dragging the officer behind him. He smiled before closing the door with a sharp click.

Axel turned to Roxas. "I think I suffer from amnesia. Do you come here often?" He smirked, showing pearly whites before Roxas smacked his arm.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry if the last chapter confused anyone... Don't worry, unlike Russian Roulette I actually have this one planed out. WARNING:It might get REAL long.

-0-0-0-0-

Reno settled down in the leather couch in his favorite coffee shop. Well, now it was is favorite coffee shop. After being kicked out of his brother's room at about six he had decided to come here, a measly two blocks away. And, thankfully, the boy behind the counter knew Axel so he could stay here until visiting hours started.

He had lounged around the bar for a little while talking to the boy in a red apron, a coffee-cup name tag, and a mildly unpleased look on his face. Reno had no idea how this kid landed a job working the counter of a coffee shop. There was a note stuck to the cash register that said "Do NOT call the customer Mr./Mrs. McFukerton."

The red-head sighed and stretched. His back popped and he groaned. Reno rubbed his eyes and then slouched down into the leather couch he was perched on. He picked at the seams on the arm rest and stared at the ceiling.

"Here." A coffee cup was shoved in his face. Reno went a bit cross-eyed to look at it.

Reno slowly reached to grab it. "Thanks." He looked up to a blond, wearing all white with ice blue eyes. Reno openly stared. He'd blame it on no sleep if the man asked later. Then he took a gulp of the sweet coffee for something to do and to keep his eyes open. "Who are you?"

"I'm Rufus. The doctor that's making sure nothing in Axel's brain was damaged when he was stabbed. Am I making a correct assumption by saying you're Axel's father?"

Reno waved his hand as he took another hearty drink from his coffee. "His brother, yo." The red-head paused "Maybe I should become his dad..." Reno scratched behind his ear in thought.

Rufus sat beside Reno, one eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?" he asked softly, leaning to look at the only person who intrigued him in the coffee shop. Rufus found that fact quite strange. The man before him had crimson boomerang tattoos under his eyes, short cropped hair with a rat's tail and eyes that would glow in the dark. The rest of the patrons here in the coffee shop at the ungodly hour of six in the morning were boring and mundane. Most minded their own business and steered clear of anyone else, sitting at tables with hard chairs, reading the paper with hands on their little paper cups.

What caught Rufus' attention the most about this man was his eyes. They were a bright jade, dusted with a few flecks of gold. They were also quite expressive. In all of Rufus' years of therapy he had never seen such expressive eyes and when you worked as a psychiatrist and dealt with the insane on a day to day basis you learn to respect the amount of emotion that is expressed with your eyes alone.

"I pretty much raised Axel. Our mom went to jail a few months after he was born. I was about fifteen. I taught him how to talk, yo."

Rufus made a face at his coffee. He sincerely hoped that Axel didn't add "yo" to the end of his sentences. He looked over to his companion when he let out a yawn, hand covering his mouth. Reno lay back on the leather couch. His head barely touched the huge window behind him. Rufus watched as Reno started to drift off. The coffee cup in his hand started to slip. Rufus grabbed it before it hit the floor and set it on the table in front of their legs.

Reno snapped back to attention, a loud "What?" falling off of his lips. He blinked quickly to rid them of sleep.

Rufus chuckled. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital? I work as a psychiatrist there." He started to get up, ready to get to work.

Reno smiled. "That would be nice." He got up off the couch, and then turned back to it, looking around. He got a confused look as Rufus raised an eyebrow again. "My coat.... is in Axel's room." He finished his own sentence to the blonde's great amusement.

Reno started to walk to the door. Then he paused. "Aren't you going to show me where your car is?"

Rufus nodded. "Follow me."

-0-0-0-0-

I BET YOU CAN'T GUESS WHO THE COFFEE BOY IS!!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Since I just noticed how FAIL I am with making characters fall asleep to end chapters I'm making another chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to do it.

So...

Here's my attempt.

BTW- This chapter is meant to be a little confusing.

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas sat on a leather sofa, hands rubbing absent-mindedly over his legs. It felt good being able to wear regular pants. He looked around to the curtains and to the rug. Everything was so familiar to him. He stood, the tails on his coat slid off the smooth fabric of the couch. The blond moved over to the window. He watched the coach that held Axel come up the long winding drive. It went slower then usual, filling Roxas' heart with dread. Then the little blond noticed that the driver and Axel's partner in crime, was leaning over the railing of the driver's seat to talk through the carriage's open window. They pulled up to the walk-way and stopped.

Reno took a flying leap off of the driver's perch. He landed on his feet, kicking up a small cloud of dirt and leaves. He opened the side door and leaned in. Roxas' heart made a little pang when Reno helped Axel down from the seats inside. Axel looked up to the window Roxas was staring out of.

Roxas waved, a bright smile gracing his face. He watched, excitement growing, as Reno handed Axel his cane. Axel took it with a mild face of distaste. He had always said that he felt like a sickly old man when he had to use it. He turned slowly towards the front door, and the whole estate- even the house- seemed to hold it's breath.

There was a loud holler as Axel started to walk towards his own front door. Gardeners, horsemen and a few cook hands cheered. They threw hats, rags and even a wooden spoon into the air in joyous celebration. Their beloved master was home. Axel smiled, his sunken eyes lighting up. Then he got a smirk and Roxas went uh-oh.

Axel let his cane drop to the dirt, continuing to walk. Reno's mouth dropped, and so did half of the staffs. Axel stopped, holding his stomach as he laughed. Roxas smiled and pressed a hand against the glass.

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas jumped about a mile in the air as Axel started his iPod. Reno had stopped by, giving the stab-victim the immensely annoying contraption. The blonde's eyes narrowed and he tried to concentrate on the T.V. After a few moments of eye twitching, Roxas turned to the redhead sharply.

Axel was moving his hands in time to the scratchy guitar cords. Roxas' words died on his lips as Axel began to sing.

"I'm coming home!

I've been gone for far too long!

Do you remember me at all?" Roxas closed his mouth and turned to face Axel. He nodded a bit absently.

_"__I'm leaving_

_Have I fucked things up again?_

_I'm dreaming_

_Too much time without you spent!"_

_ "__It hurts!_

_Wounds so sore!_

_Now I'm torn_

_Now I'm torn"_

_ "__I've been far away_

_When I see your face_

_My hearts burst into fire!_

_Hearts burst into fire!"_

_ "__You're not alone_

_I know I'm far from home!_

_Do you remember me at all?"_

_ "__I'm leaving_

_Do you wait for me again?_

_I'm screaming_

_No more days that I just spent"_

Axel looked over to Roxas, a small smirk playing over his lips as the red-head fought to keep a straight face, "Did I bother you? I'm sorry if I did..." Roxas shook his head and pointed to the door. Axel turned, a blush rising to his cheeks a bit. "Oh..." About five people stood at the door, Cloud behind them looked a bit worn.

A boy with a mullet-mohawk smiled brightly. "That was amazing dude!!!" He bounced, yes, bounced, into the room. He sat on the edge of Axel's bed. The rest of the group shuffled in, looking a bit uncomfortable. One boy with slate colored hair nodded to Roxas. The blond nodded back. A tall boy with an eye patch and in his work clothes walked over to stand by the happy boy rambling to Axel. He took of the coffee cup nametag and shoved it in his pocket.

"Why do you look like you've been hit by a bus?" Xigbar asked, raising and eyebrow to Axel.

Axel didn't answer; he was too busy staring at the boy standing closest to Roxas. The two were having a polite conversation about the news when Axel's voice interrupted them.

"Who are you?"

The whole room went silent, the smile on Demyx's face slipped. Zexion got up, giving his hair a bit of a flip. He walked over to Axel, face devoid of emotion.

"Hey Axel, what's two plus two?" He asked, tilting his head a bit so he could see Axel with both violet eyes.

"Four." He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Everyone here knows that."

Zexion nodded, a bit satisfied "Okay then, where's Montgomery?"

"Alabama. Martian Luther King, Jr. held his marches there."

"Then who, Axel, am I?" He stopped by Axel's side. He slid his hands in his pockets and smiled at the redhead.

Axel opened his mouth, and then closed it shaking his head and looking down at his hands.

"I don't know."


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, y'all. It's (part of) the ROMANCE CHAPTER(S)!!! :D Enjoy.

I don't really remember where I got the WAAAY out there quote. I found it on a piece of paper in my drawing pile so... if it's yours and you want me to take it down, just let me know.

-0-0-0-0-

Cloud sighed, rubbing his face. He put his head in his hand, blankly staring at the instructor in front of him. The tall African American man was talking about brain aneurysms the last time he paid attention, which was about twenty minutes ago. The blond knew he could get in trouble about not listening to what he was being taught about later but he didn't really care.

The poor nurse was running on about three Monster energy drinks and about thirty-five Pixie Stix. Not only did he not get any sleep but also he kept being distracted by a loud, annoying, curious police officer that hung around for no good reason. Zack tailed Cloud when he had nothing to do, which usually meant that Axel and Roxas were having loud Rock Band tournaments.

The meeting ended, making Cloud blink and slowly snap out of the la-la land he just happened to visit. The other nurses, Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, and Dr. Hojo stood before Cloud even realized what was going on. At least Aerith waited by the door for him.

Cloud sighed again, gathering his unused notes and folders, shoving them into a bag. He rubbed his eyes and groaned, trying to stop his head from spinning and falling asleep. Aerith pulled out another Monster from her bag and held it up.

"You need it more then I do. You work the night shift." She smiled, being generally sweet. Cloud smiled back, taking the large can out of her hand. He popped it open and took a large gulp from it.

"Hey, Cloud?" Aerith asked, tilting her head and looking down the hallway. "Who's that guy that sits outside of Axel and Roxas' room? He's been here all day for weeks."

Cloud smiled. "That's Zack. He's the police officer that is stationed there. He said it so he can protect the boys just incase Ansem comes back."

Aerith shivered. "I sure hope he doesn't... those poor kids..."

Cloud smiled, "Don't worry, Zack would take care of him."

-0-0-0-0-

Cloud sat in his seat at the front desk, looking over charts and statistics. He added a few up in his head then corrected them on the sheet. He was working diligently and quietly so he could get home to sleep. He rubbed his eyes and put down the folder for a minute.

"So.... What are your friends like?" Zack asked as he slid his arms around Cloud as he worked, earning a weird look from the blond nurse. Cloud leaned back into the comforting warmth of Zack's chest.

"Well... Aerith is mildly crazy, Tifa is insane and Yuffie is just fucking out there. _Waaay_ out there." Cloud swung a hand around to make his point.

"Sounds lovely" Zack smiled, rubbing the top of Cloud's head as he stood. "Ah.... I was just stretching my legs. Back to work."

Cloud watched with a small smile as Zack meandered back over to his chair only stopping to help another nurse with his papers. Cloud shook his head wondering what he was going to do with the happy raven-haired man.

_Maybe I can convince him to take me to breakfast...._


	7. Chapter 7

Roxas flopped down on Axel's bed, mouth graced with a pout. He crossed his arms and stared at the wooden hospital door with a murderous passion. Axel looked up from his bright yellow chemistry book that had been brought to him by Demyx. He raised an eyebrow as Roxas fisted the sheets.

"Is there something wrong, Roxy?" He sat up slowly, careful of the morphine drip in his arm. The crook of his elbow was covered with Dora the Explorer band-aids from the times when he nearly ripped the little piece of metal out of his arm. A few were plain with smiley faces or phone numbers from some of the nurses that visited.

Axel tilted his head to look at the door himself. He smiled, "Thinking that Zack will drop kick you back to bed?"

Roxas shook his head, eyes narrowing a bit more. Then he sighed and slumped, fists in the sheets going completely slack. He flopped back onto the bed, his back arching over Axel's legs. "I don't remember what I was going to do..." The blond gave Axel the cutest pout.

Axel laughed, moving forward to ruffle Roxas' hair. "That's okay."

He looked around the slightly dingy hospital room. The two beds were messed and were waiting for someone to lie back down and chill. The four horrendously uncomfortable armchairs were hunched in the corner pathetically from when his friends had come to visit. Two duffle bags were thrown onto the windowsill. One was light blue and the other was a dark forest green. Clothes were thrown in random places. For some reason Axel suspected that Roxas was wearing one of his shirts. Axel sighed.

He shoved his book to the side and onto the floor without a care. "You were going to go get lunch." He stood, stretching a bit. Roxas fell back to the bed then sat up.

He sighed and got up, going after Axel who was pushing his drip out the door. The red head nearly had to turn it sideways to get it to move.

They walked down the hall slowly, Axel knocking every girl dead with a blazing smile. Roxas sighed and finally caught the attention of Axel. The redhead stopped and waited for the small blond to catch up. Roxas looked at the floor watching the tile go by slowly. Axel smiled reaching out and grabbing the blond's hand.

"You don't have to be so down about the memory loss. I't not like you're going to die from it."

Roxas smiled and squeezed a bit. "You're sweet to me. I like it."

Axel shrugs. "I'm a pretty nice guy. I like being nice, but you are the one I'm the nicest to. You're just so cute," Axel pulled Roxas closer and threw his arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. Roxas finally smiled.

Cloud walked past the pair. He gripped his clipboard to his chest and stopped . The poor blond turned his head so fast that his neck popped and he about did a triple take. As Roxas slipped his arm around the redhead's waist and they stopped to wait for the elevator.

Cloud looked back at Zack who was sitting in his chair calmly.

"I'm fine with it." Zack gave Cloud a lopsided smile and tilted his head. "I'm actually kinda wondering what a baby from those two would look like..."

Cloud snorted softly and turned back to what he was doing.

-0-0-0-0-

Axel sat in the plastic cafeteria chair waiting for Roxas and his chicken salad sandwich. He drummed his fingers on the table and looked around. The cafeteria was a wide-open space with tables and chairs randomly placed about the room. It was colored oddly, as if a four year old picked out the colors. The chairs were bright yellow, the tables were a dark green and the tiles on the floor were red and purple. Quite a few people thought it was amusing.

A tray bumped into his fingers and he looked up. Roxas stood above him, smiling and holding out a can of sugar-free soda. Axel took it out of his hand and placed it down by his tray.

"Thanks, blondie." Axel started to unwrap his sandwich.

Roxas made a face as he pulled his canary yellow chair out to sit in. "What's up with the cafeteria? It looks like a colorblind three year-old picked the decor..."

Axel smiled through a bite of bread and chicken salad. "I was thinking four year-old."

Roxas laughed and opened a jug of milk, taking a swig before placing it down on the table. "Isn't this the first time we've been down here together? Didn't Zack always get our food?"

Axel nodded. "Yeah it is. I'm glad it's us this time because Zack comes back with the grossest shit he can find. He says bad food builds character."

Roxas scoffed. "Funny."

-0-0-0-0-

A few hours after lunch graced Roxas and Axel with complete and utter boredom. They already had Rock Band taken away from them because of some other patients' complaints. Axel was reading his chemistry book upside down just for shits and giggles and Roxas was staring out the window.

Both of their heads snapped up to look at the door as it started to open. Cloud stuck his spiky haired head in through the opening he had created. "You guys up for a visit? There are some kids here that wanna talk to you Roxas."

Roxas bounced up and down on his bed. "Let them in then!" Axel laughed slightly at the excitement in his voice.

Hayner opened the door all the way, a big smile on his face. Olette and Pence were right behind him. Roxas smiled even wider.

"Hey Roxas, what's up?" Hayner asked as he walked into the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for everyone who's reading this! Because if you guys weren't I'd have stopped a long time ago...

On with the show!!!

BTW- Axel says. Yes, I do. My brother taught me to be bilingual when I was little.

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas bounced up and down on his bed smiling brightly. He started to get up and meet them by the door but was stopped by a flying Olette. She pretty much slammed into him an squeezed him to her chest. Pence and Hayner continued into the room with smiles. Pence tossed a back pack into the window sill discreetly, it made a loud thud and Axel raised an eyebrow. He shook his head and went back to his English that he just started.

Roxas let go of Olette and then pulled Hayner over to him and gave him a quick hug then smacked him over the head. "You could have visited before!"

Hayner laughed, "Sorry bro. You missed a lot of tests man."

Roxas groaned. "Perfect." Then he spied the new back pack on the window sill. "What's that?"

Axel shrugged his shoulders continuing to write. Olette sat down next to Axel's bed, introducing herself softly. Axel smiled and put his pen down to hold out his hand and shake hers.

Pence rolled his eyes. "Your mom must have packed your whole bedroom in there AND managed to squeeze some homemade cookies in there."

Roxas laughed softly, "That's my mom."

Axel tilted his head a bit to look at Roxas and his friends from under his bangs. "What's your mom like? You haven't talked about tu familia at all."

Roxas made a bit of a thinking face. "Well, my dad's a thoughtful version of the Cloud you know, my brother's a ditz and he always claimed that our hair colors got mixed up, and my mom's really protective." He turns to his friends sitting in the arm chairs across from the beds. "Does that cover all of them?"

Hayner shakes his head. "Your forgetting your cousins, your grandpa, your grandma..." He ticked the people off on his fingers. He smirked and ducked as Roxas threw a pillow at him. Axel laughed as the little blond released his annoyance out on the cameo wearing kid.

"You speak Spanish?" Olette asked Axel with interest.

"Sí, hago. Mi hermano me enseñó a ser bilingüe cuando fui muy poco."

Olette's mouth fell open, but she clapped he hands together. "That's cool! I wish I could speak like that."

Roxas smiled at the scene in front of him. Axel and one of his best friends were getting along. Not only did he feel like he had Olette's approval but he also felt like he could actually ask Axel out without them freaking out. The blond's eyes went wide at that thought.

_Where did that come from?_

Hayner touched Roxas' shoulder, making him turn. Roxas smiled slightly. "What's up?"

Hayner spoke lowly, "Is it true Seifer found you? When you got hit?"

Roxas hesitated he remembered backing up a bit when he saw the bully but then it was just black. "I don't really remember. I seem to have lost my short-term memory." He sighed. "Just like with lunch earlier. I got to the door then my mind went blank... I think."

Hayner made a concerned face for his friend. How was he going to get through school like that?"

"Are you taking Spanish?" All the boys looked up to Olette. She was looking at Axel.

Axel closed his English notebook and put it on the tray attached to his bed along with his pen. He took a drink from his soda that he got from the cafeteria.

Olette sighs "I'm only on one-two. But that's only because I'm a freshman!" She had a determined look on her face, as if it was her job to get that point across.

Axel laughed, "If you ever need any help just get Roxas to hand over my cell number and give me a call."

Olette smiled then turned back to Roxas. "Okay, you can keep him. He's nice."

The whole room laughed.

-0-0-0-0-

Rufus walked along the hall. It was now about two in the morning and the only nurses on duty were Aerith, Cloud, Squall and Yuffie. He sighed and rubbed his temples. A new psychology patient came in tonight. The poor man was convinced that the FBI was after him and that they were bugging everyone and everything he came into contact with.

With the steady stream of mentally ill patients Rufus almost never got any time to himself. So, as a break at work, he took the nightshift for a few days. He walked over to the nurses station and sat down in a chair. Cloud was the only one that didn't look up.

"Who's idea was it to put the ICU on the same floor as the psych ward?" He rubbed his temples again. The coldness of his hands helped a bit.

Yuffie shrugged. "I don't really know but I enjoy it."

This time everyone, even Zack who sat at least twenty feet away, looked up at her. Yuffie looked around, daring anyone to say something.

"Yup, she's WAAAY out there." Cloud shook his head slightly and went back to his work. "Only the crazy can deal with the ill."

Yuffie scowled, and flopped back on her chair, having stood when Rufus sat down. She crossed her arm with a huff. "Crazy my ass. Just 'cuz I'm out there doesn't mean that I have to be crazy."

"Keep telling yourself that." Cloud held his clip board up in defense when Yuffie tossed a pen at him. "Assault!"

The small group laughed then went back to being quiet for the next twenty minutes. Zack stated to clean his hand gun, making most of the people at the station nervous enough to leave. Aerith went to go check on a pregnant mother that fell down the steps and Squall went home.

Rufus sat with the quiet Cloud for a moment. He started to stand then Cloud pulled him down. Rufus looked over to the spiky haired nurse.

"What's wrong?" He raised an eyebrow and sat back in his chair. Cloud used his eyes to motion to Zack. Rufus looked up and his heart nearly stopped when he saw that Zack's back was stiffened. The police officer was slowly drawing the cleaning cloth back and forth over his gun, secretly putting it back together. Cloud slowly slid out of his chair casually when Zack motioned with his hand. Cloud bent down, and grabbed Rufus' wrist and pulled him out of his chair and down to the floor.

"What's going on?" Rufus breathed in Cloud's ear about to get back up and look.

"Something bad." Cloud whispered back. Rufus noticed that the young man was shaking. "Bad enough to get himself killed."

Rufus looked over the counter and his heart nearly stopped. Ansem, an old patient and a violent murderer was walking towards Zack with a ten inch kitchen knife in his hand. He was dressed in a maroon sweat shirt with the hood partly up. Silver hair fell out of the opening in the hood and onto his chest.

Rufus ducked back under the counter and gulped. Cloud had his eyes squeezed shut and a death grip on his knees. Rufus drew his own legs to his chest and listened to Cloud's mantra of "Don't die. Don't die." over and over.

Zack looked up to Ansem when he got closer. "Can I help you?"

"No." Ansem lifted his knife not bothering a bit to hide it. "Move or I'll kill you."

Zack stood and held up his gun. "Drop the weapon."

Ansem only tilted his head.

Zack took a few steps closer. "I really don't want to shoot you, sir. Drop. Your. Weapon."

Ansem lifted it and swung it down. It nearly hit Zack before the officer ducked to the left. Zack quickly replaced himself in front of the door to Axel's room. Zack's eyes narrowed and flipped the safety off the hand gun. There was a sickening thump as the handle to the knife smacked Zack's jaw.

The officer stumbled, then hit again on the temple. Zack dropped to the floor. He squirmed and turned aiming for Ansem's back as he reached for the handle of Axel's door. The murderer started to laugh turning the knob and throwing the door open. Axel was laying closest to the door, he was fast asleep. He jerked slightly in his sleep.

Ansem stepped forward. There was a bang that resounded of the walls, causing many patients to wake in shock. A blossom of blood started to appear on Ansem's chest. Zack looked at his gun in disbelief. Then the officer noticed that he hadn't pulled the trigger.

As Ansem fell to the floor, dead on the spot. The nurses stood as Zack twisted to look down the hall.

Reno was standing there in a perfectly trained shooting stance, barrel of the gun in his hand smoking slightly. The FBI badge shined from it's place on his pocket.

Rufus' jaw dropped. Cloud next to him broke the eerie silence with a quiet "Holy shit."


	9. Chapter 9

So here we are… Another chapter… I do hope you like this one, because I kind of failed in my last one… So here we are!

-0-0-0-0-

"I'm going to use something called psychotherapy, Roxas." Rufus, a blond alchemist, stood in front of Roxas. Rufus was leaning over the blond in the chair as Axel watched from a different spot close by. The light was shining in a slanted fashion through the window as the sun went down on a fairly lazy day. Roxas watched as Rufus pulled his own chair from the dining room table. Roxas' eyebrow twitched in mild anger as Rufus' fingers make a streak in the dust. He thought he told Seifer and Hayner to clean that table this morning…

Roxas sighed and looked at Axel. The sick man smiled softly and mouthed, "Go on." The smaller blond sighed and relaxed.

"Okay. I'm ready." He settled back in his chair.

Rufus smiled and Axel leaned a bit forward in his chair. The alchemist put his hands over Roxas' eyes and on the back of his head.

"I just want you to relax. Just let your mind go blank." Rufus massaged Roxas' temples. The boy's shoulders dropped and he took a deep breath. He let it go slowly.

"Now go back to the happiest moment that you can remember. Just fall back. Fall back." Rufus smiled and tilted Roxas back over the chair a bit. Axel narrowed his eyes, starting to stand. Rufus shot his a look and whispered, "Trust me." His voice was soft and soothing. "All I want you to do is fall. Just- SLEEP!"

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas woke up in his hospital bed with a start. He looked around slightly confused. Where was the Victorian style dining room? Where was Axel with his cane and smile? The alchemist even?

"Just a dream…" He whispered and rubbed his face. He sat up slowly only to come face to face with Cloud. Both nurse and patient screamed. Cloud shot backwards and nearly fell to the floor. Roxas grabbed his pillow and held it in front of him.

"What the hell Cloud?! That scared the crap out of me!" Roxas glared at the man.

Cloud sighed. "I'm sorry Roxas; I was just reaching for your tooth brush on that table over there…" Roxas looked at his nurse, and then handed the tooth brush to him.

"Why are you packing my stuff?" Roxas tilted his head as Cloud went around the room picking up a few things. Cloud threw an outfit to him.

"You're going home. Or at least to a safe house. We had a… problem last night." Cloud pulled out a clipboard then a cell phone. He handed the blue phone to Roxas. "Call your parents."

Roxas played with the dangling chocobo chain on it. He watched it spin for a second. "Why? Where am I going?"

Cloud shrugged, sighing softly. "I don't know kiddo." He rubbed his face. "A man came in last night with a knife and nearly got into your room. He was going to kill the both of you."

Roxas stared at Cloud. Then he flipped the phone open. Cloud handed him the clipboard and pointed to the top of the paper on it. All the prompts were ideas for what to say about being moved for his own safety. He slowly dialed his home phone number and put it to his ear. He closed his eyes, a few tears falling to the ground before he took a deep breath and suck his sadness up. The phone rang twice and Sora answered.

"Hart residence, this is Sora. If you're looking for Roxas he's not here." It was bright and happy but to the point.

"Hey Sora…" Roxas smiled as his twin let out a happy squeal. "Is Dad home?"

He could practically hear Sora pout over the phone. "But we haven't talked in AGES! It's not fair Roxas!" There was a thunk and a shuffle. "Sorry, I dropped the phone."

Roxas laughed and Cloud turned to leave to room. "This is really important Sora… Is Dad home? Could you give him the phone?"

"Okay, okay…" Sora yelled into the background. Roxas only caught a few words before his dad's voice came over the speaker.

"Roxas? That you?" His dad sounded hopeful. Roxas smiled.

"It's me Dad, listen. I need to tell you something real important." His father was silent on the other end. "I need to move to a safe house somewhere in Twilight Town. Last night someone showed up and tried to get into our room."

"Our?"

Roxas sighed. He really didn't want to explain what happened. "The guy I share a room with. Anyway, I need your permission. The police are still going to take me for now. You or mom need to come up to the hospital and sign a few papers." He set down the clip board on his bed.

"So I'll be handing over my right as your parent, is that it?" Roxas didn't like how his dad's voice sounded all tight.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Roxas looked at the floor.

-0-0-0-0-

Cloud stood in the nurse's changing room. He had his forehead pressed to his locker and stared blankly at the wall to his left. He sighed and tried not to cry. The door opened behind him, making him stand up straight. He took a deep breath and tried to act casual as he turned.

Zack slipped through the door. The officer let it slowly close behind him. He stopped and stared at Cloud as the nurse's superficial smile slid off his face. Cloud bit his lip and turned back to his locker. He started to put the combination in.

"You're avoiding me."

Cloud stopped and turned back to Zack. He pulled the small metal door open as he looked at the ebony-haired man. "What makes you think that?" He asked softly, looking at the floor now.

"You haven't spoken to me since Reno shot that silver-haired freak. It wasn't Ansem by the way. CSI identified him as Yazoo Hamptom."

Cloud pulled out his jeans and tee shirt, then his wallet. "Oh. Sorry I was a bit busy..."

Zack let out disbelieving sound. "Busy? Doing what? Staring at the wall?"

Cloud paused then continued to pack for home. He slammed his locker shut and twisted his green "I'm not Irish but kiss me anyway!" shirt in his hand. "Something like that." He glared at the officer.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Zack kicked the closest object, which happened to be the wooden bench in front of him. It rocked dangerously then stilled still upright.

Cloud's face screwed up in anger. He tossed the shirt at Zack, smacking him right in the face. "YOU!! You're my fucking problem! You come here, make me think about you all fucking day then you tell me you're leaving! Why'd you go and make me fall in love with you?!"

Zack pulled the shirt from his shoulder. He watched Cloud. The poor nurse was frazzled, his golden hair an utter mess. He took a few steps forward, pushing the wooden bench in-between them out of the way with his foot. Cloud watched him come closer, chest heaving.

The officer grabbed the front of Cloud's scrubs, twisting the fabric around his fist and making Cloud gasp when Zack tugged him closer.

"Because I love you too." Zack pressed his lips to Cloud's, earning a sharp gasp. He took advantage of Cloud's slightly parted lips and slipped his tongue into the blond's mouth. Cloud paused slightly before he wrapped his arms about Zack's neck and brought him closer. Tears started to spill down Cloud's cheeks. Zack put his arms completely around Cloud's waist and lifted the smaller off of the floor slightly.

After a bit longer, when the two needed to breathe, they pulled away. Cloud's lips quivered before he pressed his cheek to Zack's uniformed shoulder.

"Want to go to breakfast one last time?"


	10. Chapter 10

Since I got the mother of all snow storms here in sunny N.E. I've had about three snow days to right this. I hope you like his love child of my boredom.

Seifer skated down the sidewalk. It was spring break and he was planning on enjoying it to the fullest. The stick of his sea salt ice cream stuck out of his mouth and he blared his head phones. Tilting his board he turned to the right, heading for the stairs to practice his rail grind.

Instead of getting to his spot he happened upon a fight. The little lamer kid, Roxas or what ever, was fighting three guys at once. Seifer recognized Zell because of his tattoo. Roxas pushed a boy, yelling to get out of his face and the boy pushed back.

"HEY!" Seifer jumped off his skateboard grabbed it and took off running. The fight escalated. Elbows were thrown in peoples faces and there was shouting. The bully slid down the railing of the steps trying to get to Roxas' aid quickly. The poor kid was going against three guys about four times bigger then him. Seifer swung and cracked his board over Zell's head. Roxas spotted Seifer and fought harder, trying to get away before Seifer beat the shit out of him himself.

Roxas punched the guy he was fighting and the boy punched back, smacking him across the face. Roxas stumbled and let his hands drop. Seifer reached for the other blond as he fell backwards, head cracking against the pavement of the street behind him.

Seifer turned to the gang with a murderous glare. "Get out of here!" The gang turned and fled. The skater turned back to the freshmen on the ground. Roxas was getting up, to Seifer's relief. Roxas held his head, red blood trickling down his arm. Seifer turned back around to pick up his board.

"I'm glad you're okay Rox-"

There was a light yelp that interrupted his sentence. Then a squeal. Seifer turned just as the Roxas was highlighted with the headlights of a car. He gasped and dived for the freshman, reaching for his arm. Roxas thew up his hands as the driver slammed on her breaks.

There was an ungodly thunk as the bumper slammed into Roxas caves. He bent over the hood then slipped backwards. He fell back to the pavement, head bouncing against the ground. A pool of blood immediately started to spread, dark against the black asphalt of the street. Seifer grabbed Roxas and lifted him up onto the side walk. Red stained the stands of blond hair and dripped down to the sidewalk.

"Oh my god is he okay?!"

Seifer looked up to the terrified woman. "Call 9-1-1, he's not breathing."

-0-0-0-0-

Seifer tailed after the lamer gang slowly. He was wearing his signature scowl and he had his beanie tugged over his hair. He shoved his hands in his pockets and sped up. Seifer grabbed Hayner's hood and jerked earning a slight choke. He smirks as he drags his captive into an empty alleyway.

As he's thrown into a wall then cruelly held there by a strong arm across his chest Hayner managed to sputter out a "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I kidnapped you for a moment." Seifer stated this as if this was obvious. He shrugged.

"And why did you kidnap me?" Hayner crossed his arms as much as he could.

"Because I have a gang war tomorrow and I need Axel's help. And I know for a fact that he was sharing a room with Roxas. How is pipsqueak anyway? He okay? He bashed his head in pretty badly."

"Seifer, stop rambling." The smaller blond's eyes rolled and a small smile tugged his lips.

"Shut up you. Anyway, do you have any idea where Axel is?" Seifer got serious quickly.

Hayner grimaced, "I... I have no idea. I went to drop off some homework for Rox at his house the other day because he should have gotten out by now but when Roxas' dad answered the door he said Roxas was gone. No one knows where he is..."

Seifer let the freshman go with a heavy sigh. Hayner noticed with slight concern that when the older bully ran a hand over his beanie that his fingers were shaking. "I'm fucked."

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas walked into the house he was going to be staying in for the next few months. He looked up to the winding stairs and sighed. Axel limped over to the smaller teen. He slid his arm about thin shoulders and laid his cheek against soft hair.

"It's kind of weird huh? It reminds you of something doesn't it?"

Roxas nodded softly. The blond reaches to grab Axel's hand. Their fingers twist over each other. Roxas smiles softly and leans his weight against the older boy's shoulder.

"Get up to your rooms! Don't just stand there and make the front room reek of PDA!!" Reno slammed the front door closed and locked it. "Go on. Those rooms are freaking huge."

The boys broke apart with mild surprise turning back to look at the FBI agent. He was balancing a pistol and a hunting rifle in one hand with his bags in the other. Roxas' eyes widened as they landed on the weapons. Axel limped over quickly and grabbed a suitcase with his strong arm.

"You be careful with that." Reno smiles an ruffles Axel's hair with his free hand then switched the pistol to his now open hand. "Take it up to my room please?"

Axel smiled and went to the stairs. He slowly made his way up the winding stairs with a hand trailing on the bannister. Reno sighed as his brother paused on the top to catch his breath. Roxas smiled and waited with the older boy.

Rufus came up behind Reno. "He'll get better. I promise."

Reno smiled softly. "Alright if you say so."


	11. Chapter 11

Cloud bounced in his seat as he chewed on his pencil's eraser. He kept glancing at the clock and then to the empty chair that still sat outside of room 813 even though the man that usually occupied it had been gone for about a week. His shoes started to tap against the floor.

Squall slammed his clipboard down on the counter. "Oh, my God. Will you please stop it!?"

The rest of the nurses station looked up to the annoyed and scared man. Cloud went still with a sheepish look. "Sorry, I'm just antsy." He sighed and shoved his work away from him.

Yuffie leaned to look at her blond friend. "Why?"

Cloud smiled brightly. "My boyfriend and I are going out tonight." He bounced in his seat again.

The station went silent. Aerith was the first to recover. "Really? Who are you dating?"

Cloud looked at her, then to the chair, then to the clock again. "Oh, would you look at that. My shift's over!" He shuffled through some papers, sorting some from IN to OUT. He jumped out of his seat and started to hum as he walked back to the locker room.

As the PERSONAL ONLY marked door swung to a stop Squall turned to the girls at the station. "So he's dating the officer? Or did I miss something?"

Aerith smiled and turned to the other brunette. "He is and I'm pretty sure he's very happy."

Yuffie squealed "That's just so... CUTE!!!"

-0-0-0-0-

Cloud stood in front of the mirror in his bed room. He was dressed in a white button up and black dress pant. He sighed, slightly nervous. This was their first date and all he knew was that they were going to somewhere fancy. He fidgeted a bit and checked if he looked okay for the tenth time. Feeling like a such a gay man, he checked his nails then his breath, then his hair, then if his butt looked big in his jeans.

He tossed himself backwards onto his bed. He sighed softly and looked out the window. He rubbed his eyes gently and got comfortable in his wait.

Then the blond noticed Zack's car outside his apartment building. He jumped up.

"SHIT!!!!" He rushed to the bath room. He touched up the crumpled spikes in his hair. He bit his lip, and pulled out his eye liner. After throwing that on in a haste he rushed back to his bed room just as Zack knocked on the door.

A smile burst across Cloud's face. "Coming!" He grabbed his dress jacket and threw on his shoes. He walked briskly down the hall way, "Hold on! Let me grab my wallet." He sounded excited and bubbly for the first time in a week.

There was a muffled noise from behind his door. It sounded speciously like laughing. Cloud made a face and lunged for his wallet then the door. He slipped in his new shoes and fell flat on his face as the door swung open. Zack made a squeak, not expecting the small blond to fall. He reached down and dragged him back up.

"Are you okay, Spiky? You fell pretty hard." The raven haired man bent his knees a bit to look Cloud in the eye.

Cloud was blushing hard in the posh hallway of his apartment building. "I'm okay. Strangely I do that all the time."

Zack laughed again, taking Cloud's hand. "You're not the only one. I always slip on my hard wood floors. Damn things are fucking slick when you're in socks." He smirked as Cloud automatically smiled to the image of Zack in his boxers a tee shirt and socks in the morning slipping and sliding across the floor as he got his coffee. Then he blushed again. Zack in boxers was a _nice _image.

Cloud looked his boyfriend over. Dressed in a blue button up, fitting black dress pants and a leather jacket with "Twilight Town Special Forces" written over the back of his shoulders.

Cloud smirked. "You look good..."

Zack leaned in and kissed Cloud softly. "So do you. I wanna show you off to my buddies so we better get going."

Their fingers twisted together again as they made their way down the hall. "I'm okay with that..." Cloud leaned his head on Zack's shoulder. Zack went to kiss the spikes but was nearly smacked in the nose.

"Oh my god, I just noticed something. What if they get drunk and ghetto? Who do I go to? Some gang member in the parking lot?!" Cloud looked up to him with blue eyes wide. "What do I do?!"

Zack laughed.

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas sat on the new leather couch at his new house. It was weird to him because he'd been there before. He looked out the large gothic style window to his left. The sun was going down slowly. He smiled softly and watched it sink farther and farther down behind the horizon. Axel slipped onto the couch behind him.

"It feels a bit weird doesn't it?" Axel placed his drink on the ground by the leg of the couch. "Like we've been here before."

"Yeah...." Roxas leaned back into Axel. "It does." He tipped his head back to rest on Axel's shoulder. He smiled gently.

Axel ran his fingers through blond spikes. Roxas sighed gently and closed his eyes.

Roxas relaxed slowly to Axel's touch. "I remember this for some reason." He opened his eyes to stare into green. An eyebrow raised as he watched. "But I don't remember what's missing."

Axel nodded softly. He looked out the window for a bit as the sunlight shone through the branches of some nearby trees. "I remember what's missing."

"What?" Roxas tilted his head back and smiled.

"This." Axel cupped Roxas' chin and kissed him softly. Roxas gasped and Axel pulled away a bit.

Roxas stared at the boy behind him. He sat up a bit with his mouth slightly open in shock.

"I'm sorry." Axel looked away from the boy pretty much in his lap. "I just thought you liked me too."

Roxas' eyes went wide. He flipped around and startled Axel's lap. "No, I really do! I was just surprised. I didn't know that you were going to do that." The blond tipped Axel's chin back up to look at him and smiled cutely. "Now kiss me again."

Axel smiled. He leaned back in and pressed his lips to the blond's. Roxas tilted his head to make the kiss deeper and placed his hand over Axel's. Axel grabbed his fingers and held on.

"Now this really feels familiar." Roxas smiled against Axel's lips.

"Less talking, more kissing." Roxas giggled and leaned in again.


	12. Chapter 12

Hayner walked down the sidewalk, backpack slung over his shoulder. He sighed. Ever since Roxas disappeared he had to take a back way from school. Too many people were asking where the slightly younger blond was. He groaned and rubbed his shoulder. It was sore from his backpack.

Hayner kicked a rock as he continued to walk. After a little while he realized some one was following him. He stopped and turned back only to see a shadow duck into an ally. Hayner shrugged, turned back around and continued walking. He started to move a little faster to save his skin. He could see his house just up the street. Seifer and his little stick-shoved-up-their-ass group stood by the bus stop. For some reason they all whipped around to watch him. Seifer stood up straight from his position of leaning on a lamp post. Hayner rolled his eyes. _Not another fight…_A clear wave of alarm passed over his face and he started to yell something. Hayner stopped and made a face. What the hell was Scarface doing?

Hayner was jerked to the side. He gasped softly and tried to wrench his wrist from whoever was holding him. Something hard and cold pressed against the side of his head.

"Why hello there, cutie…" The barrel of the gun was pressed closer to his temple. "You're coming with me."

A damp rag was pushed over Hayner's nose and mouth. The captive gasped in surprise. His world started to tilt and sway; spots of darkness started to burn into his vision. He vaguely felt being tossed to the side.

Seifer's voice rang out though his skull. A loud "Fight, Hayner, fight!" echoed across his mind. He weakly flailed his arms and kicked.

Then everything went dark.

-0-0-0-0-

Zack woke up slowly. His chest felt heavy and warm. Something was laying on his midsection and moved with him as he breathed. He looked around slowly. The bedroom he was in didn't look familiar. The walls were dark blue instead of his bright orange and the bed was a bit softer. He started to get a bit confused. Then he looked down.

Cloud's cheek was pressed to his shirt fingers curled into the fabric. He was fast asleep with a slight smile on his face. Zack made a slight 'd'aw' face to his lover's content. He twisted a bit and snuggled closer. Zack smoothed back blond spikes and kissed the top of his lover's head. Cloud sighed gently in his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Hi…" He said softly.

Zack leaned in and stole a kiss from the sleepy blond. "Hi."

Cloud placed his head back on Zack's chest. After a moment he moved his leg over to sit on the taller male. Zack let out an unmanly squeak and looked up to the now playful male. Cloud pressed Zack's shoulders down to the soft bed with a slightly lustful look on his face. "So…" The blond leaned and licked the officer's top lip, earning a slight gasp. "Wanna pla-"

A phone rang shrilly from the bed side table. Zack and Cloud both groaned at the same time. The blond threw himself to the side so Zack could grab at his cell phone. On the forth ring the mildly irritated officer answered the phone.

The bedroom went silent, and Cloud raised an eyebrow. Zack's face was getting increasingly dark. "You know I'm not the best to put into that type of case. I nearly- Good you remember."

Cloud tilted his head and got a cute look of slight confusion.

He snapped the phone shut and threw the covers to the side. He grabbed his shirt off the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"A child got kidnapped."

-0-0-0-0-

Hayner awoke in an extremely small space. There was tape pressed over his mouth. _Where the fuck am I…?_ His legs were pulled up to his chest and his arms were behind him. He was lying on his side. As Hayner tried to sit up his head collided with something with the hardness of wall ran into him.

The blond blinked slowly, eyes adjusting to the dark. He whimpered slightly, his nose pressed against the inner wall of a coat closet. Hayner twisted his hands behind his back, trying to free his numb hands.

Hayner could hear voices. He gave up on freeing his hands to listen.

"Do we rape him?" One voice was close to the closet. Panic rose in Hayner's chest as the handle started to turn.

"No, we keep him in there a little longer." The other was farther away, not as close to the door and much deeper. Hayner thanked his stars but his heart continued to pound.

"What do we do with him?" Voice one, now farther away.

"Here's what boss told us." The deeper voice sounded annoyed. "We keep him in there for an hour, then pull him out, beat the shit out of him while we call Seifer, got it so far?"

"Yeah"

"Good. While he screams we tell Seifer our demands. That so-called "protector" can't do shit while we have his pretty boy. If Seifer doesn't give in, that's when we rape him."

Hayner's eyes went totally wide. He bit the tape over his mouth as tears started to fall.

Where the hell was Seifer?


	13. Chapter 13

Seifer's knees bounced. He ran a hand through his hair. He sat on a crate just outside of the curtain of the Usual Spot. Rai and Fuu stared at him. There was laughter from inside the softly lit hangout. Seifer looked over to it and thought about how easier this would be if he didn't get pissed as hell with Hayner on the first day of school.

"Should we go in? Pence and Olette don't really like us, y'know? They really stick up for Chicken-wuss, y'know?" Rai shoved his hands in his pockets.

Fuu gave Rai a look. "Kidnapped." She stated, motioning to the cloth.

Seifer stood. "Fuu's right. We should tell his friends." He took a deep breath and stomped forward. He shoved the old yellow-orange quilt to the side. The faces of the two people lit up, then fell. Olette stood with her hands on her hips.

"Hayner's not here if you're looking for him." She glared at the scared boy.

"Actually, I knew that. That's why I'm here. Now sit down and shut up." Seifer pointed to an over stuffed chair. Olette glared again but sat down, arms crossed. Rai and Fuu decided to slip inside the hangout. Olette crossed her legs and raised an eyebrow. Rai looked her over discreetly. Pence leaned back in his seat on the couch. He raised an eyebrow himself and leveled his gaze on Seifer.

"Spill." Fuu commanded, glaring at Seifer with her one red eye.

"I was getting there." Seifer turned and made a 'SHEESH' look at her. Fuu just shrugged. "Okay don't flip out because I did my best." Seifer looked at the two freshmen. "Hayner's been kidnapped."

Olette stared at Seifer. The petite brunette looked murderous. "THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?! GO TO THE POLICE!!!"

-0-0-0-0-

Zack pulled up to the station doors about an hour late. Cloud had pulled him back in bed when he was half dressed and one thing lead to another.... But he was there and that's all that mattered. He twisted the knob to his radio on the dashboard to 'off' then the one on his shoulder to 'on.' The soft hum of near muted static filled his left ear and he smiled slightly.

Kidnappings were a big deal in Twilight Town. Partly because they almost never happened, but when they did it was usually extremely violent or the victim ended up dead. It was also extraordinary uncommon for a child to get kidnapped. Usually it was the gangs that carried out the deeds and targeted the adults that ship the money to and from the drug dealers to the drug makers. A family member would go missing and almost always wind up insane from the torture or dead.

He popped open the door and stepped out. He looked up from his shoes and was graced with the sight of the "Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee." Zack groaned softly. What happened this time? At least Fuu and Seifer weren't carrying Rai.

He slid his thumbs into the belt loops of his pants at his hips. "What happened this time. I need to get briefed about a kidnapping so make it quick."

The three teens looked at each other. "We'll just go in with you."

Zack looked a bit alarmed. "You guys know what happened?"

They nodded and Zack sighed. "Fine. I need to call the child's-"

"Hayner's" Seifer interrupted. "It's going to get real annoying if you call him 'kid' or 'child' the whole time."

"Hayner's parents." Zack continued as if he was never interrupted. "Then I need to call anyone his parents can point us too, then have them come down to the station as we wait for a ransom call..." He rubbed his hand over his face. Then out his fists on his hips. "I may not be able to go home. I'll have to call Cloud and tell him not to bring over dinner..." The raven-haired officer continued to ramble as he made his way into the Twilight Town Police Offices.

Fuu looked at Zack's retreating form. "Boyfriend?"

Rai and Seifer nodded but Seifer was the one who let out an approving nod. "Who knew Zack liked guys."

Rai looked at the leader of the small group as he pulled open the glass doors in the front. "But, Seifer, you like-"

"Kindly shut your face or I'll shut it for you."

"Alright. I was just saying, y'know."

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas leaned against Axel's chest. They were originally doing homework together but they got side-tracked and the papers ended up on the floor. The blond lazily drew circles on Axel's still bandaged chest with his finger. Axel looked down at his boyfriend with a small smile.

The red-head ran his fingers through Roxas' hair, avoiding the spikes because the last time he did that he got his fingers stuck. "What ya' thinkin' 'bout?"

Roxas smiled, then leaned up fora quick kiss. "When my grandpa died... We, meaning my family, buried him in Bachelor's Grove Cemetery."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "That haunted one with the pond and clock tower?"

"Yes. That's the one. But when I was there I ran to an older part of the cemetery and found graves with our names on them."

Axel's eyes widened but made a motion with his hand to go on.

Roxas continued his lazy habit of running his fingers over the bandages. "Why don't we sneak out and pay that Axel and Roxas a visit? Maybe we can tell them about how close we were to winding up six feet under, just like them?"

"I think that's a crazy idea." Axel looked down to the little blond laid across his body. "Let's do it.

-0-0-0-0-

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is actually located In Chicago, Illinois. It one of America's most haunted cemeteries. It's not used anymore as a burial sight but it is open for tours. It has numerous accounts of full-body apparitions and even a ghostly farmhouse. IF you do decide to visit, please keep in mind that people are buried there and be polite to their final resting places.


	14. Chapter 14

**Holy crap, I'm nearing the end here. A few more chapters and this will all be over. I'm kind of sad. But after I finish this, I might write a sequel to Russian Roulette. Thanks to Firestray who suggested that I actually put my idea down on paper. Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!!**

-0-0-0-0-

Hayner woke up with a start, smacking the back of his head on the wall his back was pressed against. Where was he? Why was it so dark?

Then he remembered the voices, the closet and worst of all the tape that he just couldn't chew through. He had gotten it bunched up uncomfortably in his mouth and pressed over his teeth. Hayner must have wiggled into a defensive position during the night. He blinked slowly, letting his sleepy eyes adjust to the darkness. In the closet with him were a few coats, a broken umbrella, some boots, and rope.

Hayner sighed. Absolutely nothing here would help him.

"Okay, boys, bring me the hostage." A voice, full of irritation as if he was talking to four-year-olds come threw the slats of the closet door. "Maybe you did this one thing right."

Horrified, Hayner tried his best to squeeze into the farthest conner with the umbrella. He pulled his knees up to his chest and closed his eyes.

The door flew open and someone grabbed Hayner's foot. The blond screamed though the tape over his mouth. He kicked and fought but ended up being dragged into the open. Hayner was shoved to the side. His head cracked against thin carpet.

Hayner sat up slowly, blinking his wide brown eyes. He twisted around and slid to the nearest wall. He pressed his back against it, barring his teeth with the duct tape still pressed firmly against them. The small crowd around him laughed.

"SHUT-UP!!!" A tall man with a knife and silver hair walked towards the group. He neared Hayner, knife pointed at his throat. Hayner pressed closer against the wall and stared up at the man with yellow eyes.

"Did we get the right guy, Ansem?" Zell asked from the side, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

Ansem looked up to Zell, a look of mild surprise on his face. "Yes, you did, for once. But where is the other one? The smaller one, with _blue _eyes."

Hayner's eyes widened as Zell's eyebrows knotted together. "Smaller one? He was the only one there."

Ansem threw the knife at Zell with a roar of frustration. To Hayner, this man was obviously unstable if he snapped that easily. Zell jumped back before the knife hit him and it lodged in the ground.

Ansem looked down at Hayner. He tilted his head. "I have an idea."

The alarmed gang and hostage looked up at the deranged silver haired man. "Yes, sir?" One asked timidly, backing away, afraid that Ansem would throw another knife.

"Beat this one up. I have a phone call to make." Ansem pulled out a cellphone as Hayner was dragged to his feet. The blond started to scream and fight. The tape was pulled of Hayner's mouth and a fist crashed into his stomach, making his knees buckle.

Ansem smiled as he punched in the numbers on his phone.

-0-0-0-0-

Seifer laid on the leather couch in the witness protection room. He blew a piece of hair off his forehead for something to do.

Zack had called Hayner's single mother and asked her to come down and wait for a call from the kidnappers. She rocked back and forth on her chair her cellphone pressed to her mouth. Seifer looked over to the distraught woman.

"He's going to be okay. He's a fighter." She nodded at Seifer and clutched her cellphone a bit closer.

Seifer nodded back. "I know. I've fought him."

Ms. Clark gave Seifer a look of distaste only a mother could muster. The beanie-clad teen shrunk away.

They sat in silence for a while before Seifer's phone started to ring. He scrabbled to grab it and flip the small device open. He pressed it to his ear with a breathless "Hello?"

He was greeted with screams. Seifer's fist clenched and his jaw went a bit tight. "Oh good, I did call the right number." Ansem sneered.

"What do you want?" Seifer's foot started to tap, and Hayner's mother looked up with hopeful eyes.

"Your little red-headed friend in exchange for-" There was a extremely loud scream from the background which made Seifer's leg bounce a bit more. "This one."

Seifer ran a hand over his face. "What do I have to do?"

"Just bring Axel to the train station. I'll finish everything there." Ansem hung up on Hayner's scream of 'Help me!' making the blond bully extremely frustrated. He got up and threw his phone at the wall with a growl.

Ms. Clark stared at Seifer. "What are they going to do to Hayner." It was a demand, not a question.

Seifer ran a hand through his hair, shoving the beanie off and onto the floor. "Nothing. Beat him up a bit, throw him out on his ass and wait for me to bring Axel to them."

-0-0-0-0-

Axel slipped out of the window and down to the ground. He looked back up to the window he had crawled out of and waved. Roxas peeked his head out of the window and smiled. He was carrying a backpack and a blanket.

"Catch me." The blond mouthed as he slid up onto the window and jumped out from the second story. Axel caught him and stumbled a bit, his injuries throwing him off guard. Axel let Roxas down to his feet and was rewarded with a kiss. Then Roxas took Axel's hand and started to pull him away.

"So where exactly are we going?" Axel squeezed Roxas' hand.

Roxas smiled at him. "To the cemetery, the graves, then the clock tower." He pulled a bottle of what looked like wine but Axel knew it wasn't. "Have a date." The blond smiled.

Axel smiled back as they turned up the street, "I have such a morbid little boyfriend."

-0-0-0-0-

HUZAH. I updated on the last possible day of 2009.


	15. Chapter 15

Holy Shiitake Mushrooms. It's the last chapter. I hope you liked reading M.I.A. I'm sorry it took so long but, hey, it was fun.

Look out for my next story Velvet Revolver.

-0-0-0-0-

Axel stood at the gates of the Bachelor's Grove Cemetery with his boyfriend. Roxas smiled up at him and grabbed his hand. The red-head pulled him closer and threw his arm around Roxas shoulder. Then he let go and picked Roxas up by his hips. The blond squeaked but grabbed at the gate and climbed up. He hesitated for a moment before jumping down to the manicured lawn, Axel right behind him.

The red-head scratched the back of his head where the stitches were and looked around. At that moment Roxas finally grasped how weird it was to have a first date at a cemetery. He blushed bright red.

"My dad's right over there" Axel said softly, pointing over to a a plot a little way's in front of them.

Roxas shifted. "Wanna visit him?" He looked up to the older male.

"Nah, didn't like him much anyway. Didn't know him for long." Axel shrugged. "So where now? You wanted to show me someone right?"

Roxas nodded. "This way." He took the red-head's arm, pulling him near and resting his head on Axel's shoulder.

They made their way down the long rows of stones, the dew covered grass making it a bit hard to walk with out slipping. They whispered about everything from football to school in the time it took to get to the roughly two-hundred year old plot that held the graves of the older Axel and Roxas. The caretaker must have noticed Roxas' little break in before because there was a new gate with a padlock. This time Roxas helped Axel over the top.

Roxas took Axel's hand again and the red-head looked at the blond lovingly. Roxas leaned in for a quick kiss before they headed over to the left half of the plot. They battled through long grass and weeds. Numerous times they had to let go of their hold on each other to untangle a foot or too.

"Did you bring a flashlight?" Axel growled out and sucked on a cut a sharp weed had given him.

Roxas nodded and let his backpack down off his shoulder. After a moment of digging he found his green LED light and clicked it on. Both boys squeezed their eyes shut for a moment as the bright light assaulted their corneas. Axel got his foot unstuck and they continued on their way.

Roxas' light fell on a low stone. Part of the grass around it had been cleared away. The white rock glowed in the light but the black letters rang out strong and true. "DEMYX 1814-1845 How awful it is to love someone that can be touched by Death."

Axel drew nearer to it. Axel ducked down and uncovered a few music notes crudely carved into the stone. "Well, I'll be damned..."

"What is it?" Roxas walked up next to him.

"Zexion's love ballad is still there. Damn kid spent hours working on it." Axel smiled sadly then let confusion become clear on his face. The red-head looked up to the blond holding the flash light. "What the hell?"

"Exactly." Roxas squatted down next to his boyfriend. "I remember everything too."

Axel nodded slowly, turning back to the headstone. He got up and started to walk down the row. "Demyx, Zexion, me, you, Hayner, Seifer, Xion, Sora, Riku, Kiari, Marly, Larx..." He looked up to Roxas. "I was the second one to die."

Roxas bobs his head sadly. "Demyx drowned, you know that. You got sick. Zexion went insane and killed himself. Hayner got in an accident, Seifer was hanged for Hayner's "murder", Xion died a grandma, same as Kiari, Riku died in war, Marly was poisoned, Sora died in his sleep, Larx.... I don't remember."

Axel consulted the stones. "She died after you. Bitch just wouldn't die...."

Despite the morbid air around them, Roxas laughed. He bent over and held his stomach sparking Axel's amusement. They laughed for a while, the wind playing around them softly.

"Come on." Axel held out his hand with a smile, "We have places to go, ghosts to meet..."

Roxas smiled, taking Axel's hand. Axel pulled the boy up, kissing him squarely on the lips. They started to move back to the gate after saying their goodbye's. Axel threw his arm around Roxas' shoulders. "How'd I die?"

Roxas took a deep breath. "You were sick, Axel. With Leukemia. You just.... wasted away. I went to go get some medicine and when I got back... Reno was pulling the zipper up on your body bag." Roxas' breath came in a shuddering gasp, tears in his eyes threatening to spill over. Axel had only seen him cry one other time and that was when Roxas was separated from his family.

Axel was silent. He hugged the blond close, pressing Roxas' cheek to his shoulder. "I'm here now..."

"Yeah..." Roxas smiled softly and linked his arms about Axel's waist. "You are."

-0-0-0-0-

Seifer kicked a chair with a shout of frustration across the room. Reno rubbed his face and yawned after dodging the hunk off metal. _(Seifer angry, Seifer smash...)_

"Axel and Roxas weren't in their rooms. I don't know why but I have a hunch." Reno addressed Zack who sighed. The ravin-haired officer watched Seifer vent his anger on the metal chair.

Ms. Clark sat on another chair, her face unreadable. "How long has it been?"

Zack turned to the emotionally distressed woman. "Nearly eighteen hours, ma'am."

"And why aren't you guys doing anything?!" Seifer screamed at the FBI agent and the police officer. The enraged teen slammed the now bent folding chair onto the ground, unfolding it and sitting down with a huff.

"Don't take it out on the chair, yo..." Reno said softly, lighting up a cigarette only to have it taken away from him.

Zack pulverized the cancer stick with his fingers. "We have no idea what to do. We don't yet have a warrant for Zell's house so we can't search there..."

"I HAVE AN IDEA!!!!" Reno interrupted everyone within a forty foot radius' train of thought. Zack made a face of 'why was I stuck with this idiot?' The officer sighed.

"What? Reno, for the love of God, what is it?"

The red-head waved his arms with zeal that should not be present at two o'clock in the morning. "Lets go through with the deal, but have Seifer carry a gun, yo. Seifer can shoot Ansem after we get Hayner back. That way we don't lose some freshman and my baby bro, yo."

Zack opened his mouth, and then shut it. "That might just work. But where's Axel?"

Reno smiled. "I can call him." he held up his cellphone and pressed eight then send.

"Friggin' idiot." Seifer grumbled and kicked a discarded pop can.

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas laid over Axel's body as they engaged in a hot make-out. Axel let his hand trail down Roxas' back then over his butt. To put down the point that Roxas was his, Axel gave a squeeze. He smirked when he got a groan from the boy on top of him.

Axel shifted to his side, letting Roxas wrap his arms around his neck and draw closer. They pressed their lips closer and Axel licked Roxas' lower lip. Roxas gasped softly and Axel's tongue darted foreword to lick over Roxas' teeth. The blond groaned and pulled Axel's hair.

The need for air got a bit strong and they pulled away from each other. Axel smirked and sat up a bit. "We'll definitely have to do this more often."

Roxas blushed, looking a lot more innocent the he was just a minute ago. The blond leaned in for another kiss but was interrupted by a shrill cry of "AXEL!!! ANSWER YOUR FUCKIN PHONE!!!"

It was Axel's turn to go red as Roxas giggled. The older of the two dived for the backpack and dug through it to find his phone. The message repeated a couple times in a few different voices. Roxas had to guess his friends made it for him.

Once Axel found the offending contraption that was spewing quite few profane words he flipped it open. "What!?" Axel yelled into his phone, completely annoyed at whoever had the audacity to bring an end to his make-out session with his boyfriend.

Roxas watched as the color drained from Axel's face, making the tattoos on his cheeks stand out even more starkly.

"Yeah, we're out. What? No, not the Org. We're at Bachelor's Grove. Yes, the cemetery. No, not visiting dad, I hated him. What?! Hell no! We haven't even got past the _complete_ make-out thanks to you. What? Yeah. No. No. Ten minutes. Okay. Why do you need that? ...Oh. I wear large, Reno. Okay. Bye." Axel flipped his phone closed.

Roxas stared at his boyfriend. "Are all of your conversations with your brother like that?"

Axel smirked cutely. "Sometimes. Come on, we need to get down to the police station. Hayner's been kidnapped by Ansem."

-0-0-0-0-

Reno tapped his finger against the steering wheal of his Porsche. Can't those kids climb a fence faster then that?

Seifer sat in the backseat, fiddling with a strap on his bullet-proof vest. The scared boy was oddly quiet for once. Reno had checked multiple times to see if the kid was still breathing. Seifer tightened his vest for the fortieth time in the past ten minutes, making completely sure that the two plates of bullet proof material touched just underneath his arms.

"You okay kid?" Reno looked into the back seat via rear view mirror. He saw Seifer nod. "No you aren't. Something's eating at you, yo. Even I can see that."

"I just have a bad feeling is all..." Seifer shrugged. "No big deal."

Reno was saved from a very in-depth talk with Seifer when the passenger seat of his car popped open, scaring the crap out of him. He gripped his steering wheal with a grim feeling. "Get in, get in."

Axel slipped into the seat as Roxas climbed into the back. Their seat belts barely had time to click before Reno sped away from Bachelor's Grove and all it's ghosts.

-0-0-0-0-

Zack smiled softly at Roxas as he fitted the blond out for a vest. Seifer and Axel were getting prompted on how to move in the rigid material. Seifer was getting the hang of it pretty quickly while Axel took a bit longer. Then again, Axel was wrapped up pretty tight with the bandages underneath.

"You sure you wanna be there when this goes down? It's not going to be pretty." Zack tightened a strap with a jerk, then peeled off the TTPD label on it.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, great practice for being a reporter." Roxas watched as the older male double checked the straps.

"Alright then. Do you know what to do if I go down?" Zack put his hands on his hips and tilted his head, giving the smaller a questioning look.

"Run like hell?" Roxas answered with the attempt at being amusing.

Zack shook his head, completely missing the joke. "Dive into the car and have your head down. The chances of you living goes up when the shooter can't see you."

Roxas nodded. Zack went off in a different direction, explaining what needed to be done at the station while he and his team were out in the field.

If only Sora could be here. Roxas' twin would absolutely love the utter chaos that was the Twilight Town Police Department was thrown in just to get one innocent citizen back. This would prove Sora's point that instead of the world going to hell, there were still quite a few people with hearts left in this world.

Roxas hoped to god that his lover wouldn't get killed.

-0-0-0-0-

Ansem stood outside of the Twilight Town Train station. He tapped his knife against his hand as he waited, quite annoyed, for his latest victims to show up. He turned his wrist over to look at his watch. Half an hour had passed since he last checked so he decided to slap his captive across the face.

Hayner let out a squeak of surprise and lurched to the left, even though he was held in place by a bastard by the name of Saix.

"I guess he doesn't care about you." Ansem snarled. Hayner looked a bit startled, backing away from the silver haired man as much as he could. Ansem lifted his foot and smashed it into Hayner's stomach. Saix let the blond go, and Hayner fell to the ground. He coughed and sputtered, trying to regain his breath before Ansem hit him again.

Ansem swung his foot back to smash it into Hayner again.

"Stop."

Ansem froze then slowly turned to the voice. "Well, Seifer, it took you long enough."

Axel shifted on his feet, eyes darting from Hayner's form on the ground to Ansem. Seifer crossed his arms and leaned back like the cocky son of a bitch he was renowned for acting like. Saix pulled Hayner up roughly.

Seifer's attention flickered over to Hayner. "Hand him over."

Saix shoved Hayner into Seifer. The tall blond caught the freshman but stumbled. In one move, Seifer fucked the whole 'Rescue Hayner' mission. Axel was pulled forward and pushed to the ground kicking and screaming. The police popped up out of their hiding spots.

"NO ONE MOVE!!!" Zack yelled as he pointed his gun at Ansem. The silver-haired murderer was poised over Axel, blade raised. The killer paused to glance up, then swung down.

A shot rang out from behind the stand off and Saix fell. Brain matter and blood splattered over Seifer who was pushing Hayner away.

"Run, you idiot, run!" Seifer gave Hayner a hard shove. The freshman took off like a bullet, heading for the doors of the train station.

Axel was shrimp crawling away from Ansem, using his feet and back to slide away. Ansem snarled, swinging his knife but missing. Seifer, now standing, snapped his foot out and knocked the knife away from the deranged man.

There was another shot that sounded off, narrowly missing the red-head in danger. Seifer kicked Ansem again, only to miss and fall on one knee.

Ansem scrambled to get his knife and the cops started to fire at will. Bullets bounced off of the pavement, hit the glass of the train station doors, and nearly hit Seifer.

As the cops guns started to click from waisted ammo, Ansem retrieved his knife. The two older boys were helping each other up as Ansem slowly sneaked up behind them. He raised the wicked weapon with a maniac grin.

Then one last shot rang out, cold and clear in the twilight air. Ansem went limp and dropped the knife to the ground making it clatter. A pool of blood started to spread against the flagstone. The small gathering turned.

Roxas stood by the archway leading to the streets, blue eyes hard, the barrel of the gun in his hand smoking. His arms were shaking but his stance was firm.

"Is he dead?" The small blond asked softly.

Seifer, mouth agape nodded. "Yeah, he's gone."

Roxas let out a breath, lowering the gun. "Good."

-0-0-0-0-

Roxas laid on the floor of his new apartment. It had been four years since the fateful showdown and he was now a freshman in college, not high school. He chewed on the end of a pencil.

Hayner snuggled against Seifer's chest but somehow managed to squeeze the advanced chemistry book onto his own lap. Seifer didn't seem to happy that his boyfriend was paying more attention to his homework then the scared man's lips.

Roxas fiddled with his pencil a bit more and looked at the daily crossword in the morning newspaper.

"Hey, Hayner." He asked, not looking away from the paper.

"Hmm?" Hayner flipped the page of his book.

"What's a nineteen letter phrase for 'big news'?"

"I have no idea." Both Seifer and Hayner answer at the same time.

"Oh, never mind." He held up his left hand where a sleek silver ring sat comfortably. "It's 'He asked me to marry him."

Hayner looked up, took a double take, then leapt of Seifer's lap. The two blonds jumped up and down talking quickly and excitedly. Seifer just rolled his eyes.

Roxas smiled as Hayner hugged him. This was the perfect ending to his little twisted love story.

-0-0-0-0-

FIN


End file.
